Stormy weather brings down Southern Railway website

Wrong kind of bandwidth

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As the UK battens down the hatches and lashes itself to the wheel under the relentless onslaught of inclement weather, we're glad to report that Southern Railways' website boasts a suitably storm-proof construction.

Or rather, and in the great UK railway tradition, it actually blew over at the first sign of a stiff breeze. Here's the current state of play:

Website unavailable

Unfortunately, due to the extreme weather conditions today, our website is experiencing heavy use, leading to technical difficulties.

Please note that Southern train services on all routes are being severely disrupted due to high winds. Short notice service alterations, cancellations and delays are occurring across the Southern Network.

This situation may continue throughout the day, effecting evening peak services.

Due to the number of services affected, we are unable to give out service information on specific trains at this time.

We would like to apologise for any disruption that may occur on your journey today.

As our informant Ivor Hewitt puts it:

So this morning I spent three and a half hours (normal journey time 40 mins) sitting in a train 100 yards outside a station due to a tree on the line....

I just went to check the southern website to see what's happening and whether I should put a sleeping bag under my desk... only to find that they have actually "shut" their website and simply display a static page saying we've shut the website due to heavy use.

Fantastic.

Ivor adds: "How utterly crap can you get exactly?"

Well, to be fair, the site does have a sort of service update which makes chilling reading for London commuters:

Please be advised that part of the roof structure at London Bridge station has been damaged by high winds. Therefore, the station is now closed to passengers, with the exception of those arriving there on incoming overground rail services.

There is no access to the station either on foot, or by London Underground services. Passengers are advised to go to the nearest London terminal to pick up National Rail Services.